- 25 -
reasonable cause and not willful neglect. Sec. 6651(a)(1).
Reasonable cause means that the taxpayer exercised ordinary
business care and prudence, but could not timely file the return.
Sec. 301.6651-1(c)(1), Proced. & Admin. Regs.
Petitioner contends that he had reasonable cause for not
filing by October 15, 1989, because he did not have his financial
records until July 1990. We have held that an illness which kept
taxpayers from their records was reasonable cause for late
filing. Hayes v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1967-80. However,
here, petitioner did not claim illness or similar reason for not
having his records. Rather, he testified that his records were
in storage in a room about 6 feet high, 7 feet wide and 9 feet
long, packed with furniture and boxes. He looked for the box,
but did not find it until he moved everything out of the storage
area in July 1990. He had his records in storage since May 1989.
Petitioner did not explain why there was a 3-month delay between
when he found his records (July 1990) and when he filed his
return (October 1990).
Petitioner contends that he had reasonable cause for not
filing earlier because he believed that he would get a refund.
We have held that a taxpayer's failure to timely file a return
because he or she believed no taxes were due is not reasonable
cause under section 6651(a)(1). Colbert v. Commissioner, T.C.
Memo. 1992-30; Worm v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1980-481;
Armaganian v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1978-305; Fox v.
Page: Previous 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011